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As we progress through the Spring of 2023, the gray wolves of the Northern Rockies find themselves in the crosshairs of politically driven management policies. Despite a victory in early 2022 that restored Endangered Species Act protections to thousands of wolves across 44 states, Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming remain battlegrounds in the war against wolves.
This week’s Idaho ruling, allowing a controversial wolf management plan to cut the state’s wolf population by nearly two-thirds, marks another distressing turn in this saga. This plan, deeply flawed in its methodology and dismissive of the ecological balance, aims to reduce the estimated population of 1,337 wolves to a mere 500 — a 62 percent cut.
These states have forged a path of destruction with controversial laws and regulations, extending hunting seasons, increasing limits, allowing year-round trapping seasons, and even legalizing hunting methods that show a flagrant disregard for ethical wildlife management. In Montana alone, the 2021-2022 season saw the killing of 273 wolves, including Yellowstone wolves, cherished as the "most-viewed" wolves worldwide.
In addition to all of this, Lauren Boebert’s “Trust the Science Act”, which threatens ESA protections for wolves across the entire country, and threatens Colorado’s 2023 wolf reintroduction plan, is making it’s way through congress with disturbing ease.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acknowledged the dire situation in 2021 and initiated a 12-month status review, yet no substantial action has been taken. The silence from USFWS speaks volumes, but we refuse to stand idle.
Join us in urging the Biden administration to enact an emergency listing of wolves in the Northern Rockies. The recent Idaho ruling underscores the urgency of this call to action. We must challenge the states that continue to flout science and engage in the unwarranted killing of wolves.
Wolf recovery hinges on fostering a healthy relationship with these crucial predators, acknowledging their ecological importance, promoting non-lethal coexistence measures, and denouncing unjustified persecution.
Urge the Biden administration to immediately issue emergency relisting protections for wolves in the western United States.
Please immediately enact an emergency listing of wolves in the western U.S.
Dear [Decision Maker],
As a committed advocate of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and a staunch defender of our nation's wildlife, I urge the Department of the Interior to enact an immediate emergency listing of wolves in the western United States, particularly in the light of recent developments in Idaho. Wolves are an indispensable keystone species, and their elimination from significant portions of the landscape represents a global ecological crisis. An expanding body of scientific literature underscores the pivotal roles top predators play in sustaining a diverse array of other wildlife species, thereby promoting the overall health, functionality, and resilience of ecosystems.Nevertheless, wolves in the Northern Rockies have been subjected to increasingly severe and controversial hunting legislation in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. Idaho's recent politically motivated wolf management plan, seeking to slash the state's wolf population from an estimated 1,337 to a mere 500, is a glaring example of this trend.Wyoming permits a virtually unrestricted hunt. Montana has authorized the slaughter of up to 85% of its wolves, allowing baiting, trapping, and hunting on the border of Yellowstone National Park. Idaho, offering a bounty of up to $2,500 for each wolf killed, permits the massacre of up to 90% of the state's wolf population using ethically questionable hunting practices such as snaring and the use of snowmobiles and ATVs to chase down and kill wolves.These extreme hunts have been highly controversial and particularly detrimental to wolves residing in Yellowstone National Park. The 2021 decision to eliminate quotas in areas surrounding Yellowstone has seen a significant surge in the death toll of the park's wolves. Hunters killed at least 25 park wolves during the 2021-2022 season, including several members of the "most-viewed" wolf pack in the world.The former Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under President Obama has called on the Biden administration for an emergency listing. He stated in an Op-Ed that "what is happening in Idaho and Montana is not hunting. It is pure, unbridled cruelty," and labeled their extreme wolf management policies as "ecocide."It's high time we bring our wildlife policies into the 21st century. Wolf recovery requires us to develop a healthy relationship with wolves and each other. We must recognize the ecological importance of wolves, advance non-lethal measures to help foster coexistence with them, and refrain from unwarranted persecution.The Department of the Interior has the authority to enact an emergency relisting. I urge you to immediately issue an emergency regulation to restore federal protections through the Endangered Species Act to the Northern Rocky Mountain DPS of the gray wolf.In a world where we increasingly understand the importance of predators and our ability to coexist, it is imperative that you confront the reality of what is happening in states bent on delegitimizing science and killing wolves.I implore you to enact an emergency relisting without delay.
Sincerely,[Your Name] [Your Address] [City, State ZIP][Your Email]
